For years, climbers on Mount Everest spoke of a landmark that was neither rock nor ice.

At around 8,500 metres, just below the summit on the northeast ridge, sits a small limestone cave. Inside lay the body of a climber, curled against the mountain and wearing bright green boots.

Generation after generation of climbers passed by it.

They called it "Green Boots".

Over time, the name became part of Everest's landscape and climbing folklore.

In the thin air of the death zone, where oxygen levels drop sharply and every step demands effort, Green Boots became a reference point. Climbers radioed back to base camp saying they had "crossed Green Boots". Some paused near the cave to rest. Others looked away and kept climbing.

For nearly three decades, the man inside that cave was known only by a nickname.

Now, that has changed.

DNA testing has identified Green Boots as Lance Naik Dorje Morup, an Indian soldier with the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), who died during Everest's deadly 1996 storm.

India is now preparing to bring him home.

After decades of uncertainty, the mountain has finally given back his name.

The climb that changed everything

In May 1996, Morup was part of an ambitious ITBP expedition........

© The Better India